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Landmark Case Timeline
Legal cases throughout the 20th century helped shape the public education system we see today. This trend continues as we head into the 21st century with several landmark cases already in the books. The following is a timeline that includes some of these landmark events. Meyer v. Nebraska (1923) The preferences of parents are constitutionally more important than the preferences of the state in education. In this case, parents were allowed to let a teacher in a private Christian school teach a 10-year-old boy in German, even though a Nebraska state law at the time prohibited foreign-language instruction in schools in the post-World War 1 era. Influence on Educational Practices Today: ESL students use their native language in school and are often taught by those fluent in their language. Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925) The court ruled that states can't force children to go to public schools and submit to government standardization if that violated their sincerely-held religious convictions. Children are not "mere creatures of the State," this law set out. The State of Oregon had enacted a compulsory education law that required attendance of all children ages 8-16 in public schools, in what was said to be an attempt to destroy Oregon's Catholic schools because of bigotry. Influence on Educational Practices Today: Parents have a multitude of choices when it comes to educating their children including private and charter schools, as well as home school and on-line options. West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1942) Students cannot be forced to salute the American flag. Influence on Educational Practices Today: Students in the public schools I've been a part of have never been put in a position to salute the American flag. A comparison to this may be the students placing their hand over their heart when reciting the pledge of allegiance. Everson v. Board of Education (1947) This case was the beginning of a stricter enforcement of a separation between Church and State in K-12 education. A citizen complained there was indirect aid that helped religious instruction at taxpayer expense. Though the Court said that reimbursement was proper, it set down a precedent about the importance of the separation between Church and State in educational matters. This case is sometimes criticized as showing an anti-Catholic bias since four justices voted against the reimbursement. Influence on Educational Practices Today: Teachers are not permitted to say prayers with students at school or reference scripture. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Racial segregation of schools was ended because all citizens have "equal protection under the law." In Topeka, an African-American student named Linda Brown had to walk five miles to the local school that enrolled minority students, when a "white" school was right across the train tracks from her home. Influence on Educational Practices Today: Students of all races and nationalities are welcome in public schools. Personally, I've taught students from Peru, Mexico, Africa, Tonga, and Samoa. Engel v. Vitale (1962) It's unconstitutional to have an official school prayer to start the school day under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The following prayer was banned by this Long Island, N.Y., case, similar to others around the country at that time: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen." Influence on Educational Practices Today: Teachers aren't permitted to pray with their students. Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) Students have the First Amendment right to free speech as long as it isn't materially disruptive to the school day. The court ruled it was legal for teenagers to wear black armbands to their high school in protest of the Vietnam War, because "students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gates." Influence on Educational Practices Today: The children I teach are encouraged to respectfully speak their mind and be themselves, as long as it doesn't adversely disrupt our classroom and the things we're trying to accomplish. Rodriguez v. San Antonio (1973) Those who were seeking "funding equity" for schools in less-advantaged areas went to the state courts. The basic claim is that the property tax base per pupil is a lot less in low-income school districts, so there should be more tax support collected from statewide sources and distributed to the low-income districts, to balance out the revenues for rich and poor within a given state. There have since been "equity" or "adequacy" school-financing lawsuits in 45 of the 50 states, with landmark cases in Kentucky and Montana. Influence on Educational Practices Today: The schools in our district are considered "low income" and rely heavily on legislative dollars to operate from year to year. Goss v. Lopez (1975) Nine students at an Ohio public school received 10-day suspensions for disruptive behavior without due process protections. The Supreme Court ruled for the students, saying that once the state provides an education for all of its citizens, it cannot deprive them of it without ensuring due process protections. Influence on Educational Practices Today: Before suspensions and expulsions can be officially handed down, the administrators and applicable teachers need to ensure that the students receive the opportunity to due process. Plyler v. Doe (1982) Public schools have to allow the children of illegal aliens to enroll, and state and local tax bodies have to pay the costs. Influence on Educational Practices Today: I have never had to deal with this issue thus far in my career as a preschool teacher. As far as I know, the parents have to produce a birth certificate to the district office and then we go from there. New Jersey v. T.L.O (1985) A teacher accused a student of smoking in the bathroom. When she denied the allegation, the principal searched her purse and found cigarettes and marijuana paraphernalia. A family court declared the student a delinquent. The Supreme Court ruled that her rights were not violated since students have reduced expectations of privacy in school. Influence on Educational Practices Today: Our district performs random locker checks and has access to login and password information to monitor school provided iPads. Westside Community Board of Education v. Mergens (1990) A teenage girl was taken to the U.S. Supreme Court for starting an after-school Bible club in the school. She wanted it to be treated like any other extracurricular activity: to be able to advertise and have stories in the school newspaper, be pictured in the yearbook, put meeting notices on bulletin boards, and have the same access to free meeting space as other after-school, non-curriculum related student groups like the chess club or community service clubs. Instead, the school board sued to try to shut her down, claiming that allowing the Bible club after school would be endorsing a particular religion. But the high court ruled that they were wrong, and the teenage girl was right, under the Equal Access Act, ensuring the rights of student-initiated clubs on government school property without "viewpoint discrimination." Influence on Educational Practices Today: While I'm not aware of any after school religious club (other than LDS Seminary that operates off campus), some student-initiated clubs that I'm aware of include a horse-riding club, gaming club, a singing club, and a dancing club. Each of these student-initiated clubs are able to be included in the school's yearbook and are advertised throughout the year on fliers posted throughout the school. Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002) School-choice vouchers were declared constitutional under the First Amendment, even though sometimes they funnel money from state taxpayers to private, religious schools in this landmark case out of Cleveland, Ohio. In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that vouchers to private schools were allowable as long as the school's program had a valid secular purpose, the aid was going to the parents and not to the schools, a broad class of beneficiaries were participating, voucher allocation was neutral with respect to religion, and there must be adequate nonreligious options. Influence on Educational Practices Today: School vouchers, also referred to as opportunity scholarships, are state-funded scholarships that pay for students to attend private school rather than public school. I've known a few parents who qualified and took advantage of this opportunity but none directly related to those I teach or have taught. Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow (2004) An atheist father who didn't have custody of his young daughter wanted to force schools to quit the long-time practice of having teachers lead the Pledge of Allegiance because it contains these words: "under God." The girl's mother didn't mind, but the father fought it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he lost, 8-0. Influence on Educational Practices Today: My little preschoolers aren't able to recite the pledge of allegiance but I know my neighboring elementary school does this before the first class each day. Williams v. California (2004) A class action suit out of San Francisco in 2000 alleged that schools in California were offering less educational opportunity for low-income children and English Language Learners than for middle-income children. The suit alleged that the teaching quality, books, and school conditions were worse in low-income schools. The case was settled out of court and resulted in an extra $1 billion allocated to equalize conditions, including the phasing out of the chaotic and expensive "multi-track" year-round school calendar. Other states have taken note and taken steps to equalize their systems, too. Unfortunately, the additional money has not paid off in terms of improved test scores as they have been trending down in California. Influence on Educational Practices Today: Being a teacher in a low-income district, I'm grateful that appropriate steps were taken to fund schools in a more equal way. While there's never enough funds, it's good to know that a child's education is dependent upon where they live or how much money their parents make.